MindManager X5 Pro was new to most of us—and I even questioned whether
it was really an analysis tool. But we all had the same response: “Wow!” This
was new and different. The Larkspur, Calif.–based company’s tool
builds mind maps: n-ary trees with whatever content you put into them. Create
thousands of nodes, and you can still traverse from root to leaf in linear
time. Need to brainstorm? MindManager lets you capture free-flowing ideas immediately.
Want to make your mind map ready for executive presentation? MindManager comes
with a full library of images, icons, backgrounds and templates with the appropriate
categories already laid out for you. Publish your maps as Web pages or export
them to Microsoft Office, to PDF format or to the MPX format used by many project
management tools. Smart Map Parts are special symbols that link to external
applications and Web services. MindManager Pro comes equipped with map parts
for a Google Web search, various CNet news feeds, File Explorer and direct
links to Microsoft Outlook Appointments, Tasks, Notes and Contacts. Still need
more? Add new features with the Macro Editor and VBA-compatible script language
built into MindManager Pro. Want to be really fancy? Mindjet provides a Developer
Zone with guides on developing MindManager add-ins using VB 6.0, VB .NET, Visual
Studio .NET, C++ and ATL. You can even write your own Smart Map Parts using
XML, XSL and Web services. And all for only $299. Wow!

This impressive tool generates all UML 1.4 diagrams except object models,
and adds diagrams for textual analysis, business workflow and CRC card diagrams.
Visual Paradigm (VP) supports Java code generation, reverse-engineering from
Java to UML, and synchronized round-trip engineering, which you can turn off
if you wish. VP also allows model and code synchronization with JBuilder, Eclipse
and NetBeans. Through its Resource Centric feature, VP adorns model elements
with only syntactically correct operations and relationships. Other major tools
do what VP does, so why am I impressed? Well, it’s comfortable to use,
and it’s only $699 per seat. All in all, this Hong Kong company’s
tool is easy and fast.

UML tools can be annoying. There’s the code, and there are the models,
and the two don’t stay in synch nearly as well as the vendors would have
you believe. This isn’t the case with Together. If you add a generalization
arrow in your static structure diagram, you immediately see an “extends” clause
appear in the editor window. Like competing tools, Together offers a full suite
of UML views. But what’s different is the simplicity of its user interface.
Rather than overwhelming you with features, Scotts Valley, Calif.-based Borland
offers an impressively simple and very powerful suite that makes using UML
effortless. Another plus is its seamless integration with Eclipse.

Overwhelmed by the diversity of UML diagrams? Mystified about how much of
RUP applies to your project? Tired of making all those icons and boxes? Wonder
if you notated all the actors? This aptly named Swedish tool wraps around Rational’s
XDE system design and modeling tool. Sitting in a small window on the developer’s
screen, it acts as mentor, respectful design critic and tireless updater of
your project’s Rational model repository, helping you with those questions
as you work your way from use case to class design. Software tools are great,
but something like WayPointer, a developer’s assistant that helps you
use those tools more effectively and raises your game as well, is even greater.